Hat-bodies



UNITED STATES PAENT OFFIC.

P. ARNESON, J. PEDERSON, AND H. BEES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING HAT-BODIES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,614, dated October 2, 1855.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, PETER ARNEsoN, JoRGEN PEnERsoN, and HANS BEES, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Manufacturing Hat-Bodies; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a vertical longitudinal section of our improvements, a1, a?, Fig. 3, showing the plane of section. Fig. 2, is a transverse vertical section of ditto, y, y, Fig. 8, showing` the plane of section. Fig. 3, is a horizontal sectionof a portion of ditto, a', e, Fig. l, showing the plane of section. Fig. 4, is a transverse vertical section of ditto, ai, Fig. l, showing the plane of section.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The nature of our invention consists- 1st. In a peculiar feeding device, arranged as will be presently shown and described, whereby the material is fed in a loose state to the machine.

2nd. Our invention consists in a self weighing apparatus, constructed and arranged as will be presently shown and described.

Brd. Our invention consists in the peculiar construction of the guides or conductors which conduct the material to the hat formers.

4th. Our invention consists in the employment or use. of a slide or cut-olf and an adjustable or moving bed, whereby the supply of material is admitted to the formers and also cut off when necessary, and the blast which throws the material on the formers, so regulated as to cause it to be uniform and even at all sta-ges of the process.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to de scribe its construction and operation.

A, Fig. l, represents a rectangular box of suitable dimensions and B, is a feed box at one end. This feed box is provided with an adjustable back board a, having a serrated or toothed plate b, attached to its lower end, which plate is also rendered capable of adjustmentby turning a bar 0r shaft c, at the lower end of the board a, the bar or shaft being connected to the lower end of the board a, and the teeth or serrated plate b, being attached to the bar shaft.

Vithin the feed box B, and just below the serrated or toothed plate b, there is placed a toothed cylinder C, the teeth being placed tangentially with the periphery of the cylinder, and on the inner side of the cylinder C, under the feed box, behind the serrated plate b, there is placed a cylinder D, having radial teeth attached to its periphery. Underneath the cylinder C, and attached to the side of the box B, there is an inclined board 0X.

E, is an endless apron which rims over rollers (Z, in the lower part of the box A, and over a roller c, underneath the front end of the feed box B. The apron E, within the box A, is somewhat inclined, the part at the front end of the box being rather lower than the part at the back end; the portion of the apron which passes upward over the roller c, on the outside of the box, is inclined outward at its upper end from the end 0f the box, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

F, is-an endless apron which works over rollers f', said rollers being so placed that a portion of the apron F, runs parallel with the inner side of the portion of the apron E, outside the box A. The other portion being in a horizontal position. At the outer end of the horizontal portion of the apron F, and directly over the space between the two aprons E, F, there is a brush roller G. At the inner end of the horizontal portion of the apron F, there are two rollers g, g, having smooth peripheries and one placed over the other, and on the inner side of the rollers there is a cylinder l1., provided with radial teeth.

H, is an endless apron slightly inclined, said apron working over suitable rollers z', z'. Any suitable number of rollers g, g, cylinders 7L., and aprons H, may be used. Three sets are represented in Fig. 1, but more or less may be used.

I, represents boxes, which are placed within the box A, directly over the apron E. These boxes have inclined screens I, on their top, which screens are shaken by cams j, j, placed on shaft la, which pass trans versely through the boX A. These shafts have pulleys on their ends over which belts Z, pass, said belts also passing around pulleys on the ends of the rollers g, and cylinders lz, thereby communicating motion to them, see dotted lines, Fig. 1. The boxes I, are not connected, spaces being allowed between them, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

J represents a box having vertical partitions m, within it. This box J, is placed upon the box A, the lower ends of the partitions m, being directly over the rollers g. The upper end of the box J, is covered with a wire screen K, and this screen is covered by a cap or box L, having a tube M, in each end.

N, is a rectangular box placed at the end of the box A, opposite to the end to which the feed box B, is attached. The box N, is divided into two compartments by t-wo partitions n, n, see Fig. 2, and a shaft O, runs through the box N, on each end of which a fan P, is placed. On the center of the shaft O, a pulley Q is placed, said pulley being` between the two partitions a, n. In the upper side or top of the box N, there are made two circular openings o, 0, one opening to each compartment of the box and each opening has a metal ring p, secured around it, said rings having each cross bars connected to them at the centers of which, pins g, are attached see Figs. 1 and 2. On each pin Q, a wheel r, is itted andto the arms of these wheels small upright rods s, are attached having levers t, at their upper ends. The outer ends of the levers t, are connected by links u, to a ring o, the under surface of which has a ledge w attached to it. These ledges are placed in grooves a2, in the upper surfaces of the wheels r, said grooves being filled with water to make an air tight connection. The inner ends of the levers t, are connected by links y, to a weights, which is at or over the centers of the rings o, and wheel 1.

R, R, represent the hat formers constructed in the usual way of perforated plates made in conical form. These formers are placed upon the rings o. l

S, represents a cone of pulleys at the lower 'end of a shaft a, said shaft having a pulley b', at its upper end, around which a belt c', passes, said belt 0', also passing around the wheels r, 1, see Fig. 3. The cone of pulleys S, are driven by a belt from a transverse shaft d, which passes through the box A. The shaft O, in the box N, is driven by a belt e', from the same shaft cZ, in the box A. Within the box A, and at the end adjoining the box N, a bed piece or platform T, is placed. The outer end of this bed piece or platform is attached by pivots or joints f', to the end of the box or to projections attached thereto. By this arrangement the inner end of this bed piece or platform is allowed to move up and down. Transversely through the box A and underneath the bed piece or platform there runs a shaft g, which has a cam It', upon it. Upon t-he periphery of this cam a lever z", rests or bears, said lever being attached to a shaft .7", which has a short lever 7c', attached to its opposite side. The lever a, has a shoulder orbend in it, and the angle of the shoulder bears or rests upon the cam, as plainly shown in Fig. 1. To one end of the shaft g, a pulley Z, is attached and to the periphery of the pulley a pin m is attached. U, is a pawl attached to the side of the box A, the edge of the pawl resting or bearing upon the periphery of the pulley Z.

V, is a lever which works upon a pivot mx, at the side of the box J. The inner end of this lever is connected to a lever n, within the box J, and the lever n, is attached to a slide or cut-off W, which works direct-ly back of the last pair of rollers g, g, see Fig. 1. The outer end of the lever V, has a jointed arm o', attached to it and the pawl U, is connected to the arm 0, by a chain or cord'p, see dotted lines, Fig. 1.

On the upper surface of the bed piece or platform T, there are placed two guides or conductors X, X. These guides or conductors are constructed of india rubber cloth or any other suitable elastic material. .The outer ends or mouths of the guides or conductors are of an inverted V form as shown in Fig. 2, 'and they gradually' approach a rectangular form from their outer to their inner ends. The back ends of the guides or conductors may be attached to any suitable frame arranged so as to keep them in proper form. The outer ends are connected by set screws g', to inverted V shaped frames Y, Y, see Fig. 2. The lower ends of these frames are pointed and fit in notches on a plate r', which is connected to the outer end of the bed piece or platform T, by screws s', which pass through slots in the plate thereby allowing said plate to be adjusted farther forward or inward. The inner ends of the setscrews Q, pass through the sides of the guides or conductors and are secured to them in any proper manner. The set screws work in slots in the frames Y, and consequently may be raised and lowered in the frames. The upper parts of the guides or conductors have rods t', within them, the outer ends of which pass through transverse rods u, in the frames Y, the rods u', are connected to vertical rods o', which pass through the upper ends of the frames Y, said rods having screw threads cut upon them upon which, nuts lw', are fitted. The rods n', have rods attached to them the inner ends of which pass through the end of the box J, and have nuts a, upon them, screw threads being cut on the ends of the rods, see Fig. 1.

Between the inner ends of the guides or conductors X, X, and the last pair of rollers g, g, there is placed a cylinder Z, which has radial serrated plates br, attached to its periphery, and directly over the cylinder Z, there is placed a concave A, which is attached to the partition m, by a joint or hinge c, so that said concave may be raised or lowered. To the back or inner ends of the guides or conductors X, X, on their upper ends, there is attached an apron d, the lower end of which rests upon the concave A.

Between the guides or conductors X, X, at their back or inner ends there is placed a vertical plate e, the back end of which works on pivots f, so that the front end may be moved either to the right or left and the back ends of the guides or conductors be enlarged or contracted, as desired, one guide or conductor being enlarged while the other is contracted, and vice versa. The plate e, has strings or cords g, attached to it, said cords or strings pass through each side of the box J.

The material is placed in the feed box B, or fed therein from the preparing machine, for detaching or loosening the fiber, to which operation the material is previously subjected. Motion being` given the machine the cylinder C, rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow adjoining it and the teeth of the cylinder draw the material downward against the plate b, and it is drawn from between the cylinder C, and plate by the cylinder D, which throws it upon the horizontal part of the apron. F. The material having its fibers loosened or detached by the cylinder. By adjusting the plate b, the feed of the material may be regulated as desired. The material is carried by the horizontal part of the apron F, to the rollers g, g, between which it passes and is carried by the teeth of the cylinder L, around upon the succeeding apron and so on till it has passed through or between all the rollers g, g, and cylinders L. The material as it is carried around from the sets of rollers C, g, to the aprons H, by the cylinders t, is sufficiently loosened to allow the hair which is mixed with the fur, that being the material used, to fall upon the screens I, the hair being specifically heavier than the fur; these screens being subjected to a shake motion by the cams j; cause the hair to pass through them into the boxes I, while any good fur that may have escaped the teeth of the cyl inders h, will not, in consequence of its light loose state pass through the screens I, but will pass down between the boxes I, upon the endless apron E, by which it is carried up between the two inner sides of the aprons E, F, and deposited again upon the horizontal portion of the apron F, by the brush roller G, said roller preventing the fur, from passing outward over the roller e.

The rotation of the cylinders z, creates a blast within the compartments of the box J, and the dust, in consequence, passes up through the screen K, into the cap L, and is carried out at one end of the cap, by means of a blast generated in any proper manner.

The material is taken from between the last pair of rollers g, g, by means of the teeth L, on the cylinder Z, and is thrown into the guides or conductors X, X. This cylinder, as it rotates, causes a blast which throws the fur upon the hat formers R, and this blast is augmented or increased by a suction blast generated by the fans P, in the box N. The suction blast is quite strong when the machine is first started because the cones are not covered with fur and consequently the direct blast from the cylinder Z, is made comparatively weak as the bed piece or platform T, is kept or placed quite near the cylinder Z; as the formers become covered however the suction blast necessarily becomes weakened and the direct blast from the cylinder Z, is increased in an inverse ratio by the gradual falling of the inner end of the bed piece or platform. This falling of the bed piece or platform is effected by the cam J, which as it turns operates the lever i and causes the lever c, to fall. lVhen the platform or bed piece has reached its lowest point, the cam L, is prevented from turning in consequence of the pawl U, catching againstI the pin m. When the necessary amount of fur is on the formers R, the outer ends of the levers t, will be depressed and the rings f'v, will fall, and in so doing will, by means of any suitable mechanism operate a bell and thereby give notice to the attendant that the proper quantity of fur is on the former and that a hat body is finished or ready to be removed from the cone. The attendant then throws down the outer end of the lever V, and the slide or cut-off lV, is forced down in front of the last pair of rollers g, g. Vhen the slide or cut-o is drawn upward for the succeeding operation the pawl V, is lifted free from the pin m', and the prominent part of the cam passes the bend or shoulder in the lever z", and the lever 7:', throws up the inner end of the bed piece or platform T, to its original position.

The outer ends or mouths of the guides or conductors X, X, may be inclined so as to correspond with the Obliquity of the faces of the for-mers R, by adjusting the frames Y, the upper ends of said frames being adjusted by turning the nuts a, in the rods and the lower ends by adjusting the plate 7. The frames V, and platform T, may also be raised bodily by changing plates a* to which it is attached by pivots f', on the box or frame A, as shown in Fig. 3. The mouths of the guides or conductors may be enlarged or contracted at any desired points so as to throw a greater or less quantity of fur on certain parts of the formers, by adjusting the set screws g, this will be understood by referring to Fig. 2, see red line which indicates a contraction of the mouth at its upper part. T he heightY of the guides or conductors may be adjusted by turning the nuts w, on the rods o.

By means of the plate e, the proper amount of fur may be made to pass through each guide Or conductor. If too much fur passes through one guide or conductor, its end is partially contracted, by moving the plate and the end of the adjoining guide Or conduct-Or will correspondently enlarged. Y Y

By the foregoing improvements the material is not handled from the time it is put into the feed box B, until it is deposited on the cone Or former. The material being made into hat bodies directly from this machine, whereas it was formerly taken from it, to be weighed and then by another machine blown on to the former, rrequiring the carrying, weighing and feeding by hand by which it was much rematted. When delivered or fed into the next machine, a single picker or rotating brush was required to Yloosen it again and blow it on the cone,

(which it is often found dificult for it to perfo-rm satisfactorily).

A vastdeal of labor is saved, about one half only of the usual number of men being required. The guides Or conductors by being co-nstructed and arranged as described may be readily adjusted to suit any sized formers and also to suit the inclination of their peripheries. And each hat will be formed of an exact amount of material, by means of the weighing apparatus described.

Adjustable guides or Vconductors Of sheet metal, have been previously used, but they soon become bent and disfigured so as to materially injure their perfect Operation, by throwing the fibers that come in contact with them on their passage to the former, into confusion and consequently preventing a uniform deposit of them on the former. The metallic plates have a sliding top board between them, which is set high or low to suit the height of the former; these as soon as the sheet metal becomes crumpled, cannot fit close as they were intended to, and leave spaces or crevices through which the fur passes above this top board Or in which it is caught and held until the accumulation is such as to fall and by the blast it is carried to the former injuring or altogether spoiling the bat. The metallic guides or conductors cannot be adjusted so as to suit formers of different angles or degrees of Obliquity but must remain at the angle in which they were Once made.

It will be understood that the weighing apparatus, rotates with the formers, the band c', passing around the wheels r, 7'.

Ve do not claim the boxes I, screws I', cylinders la, and rollers g, for they have been previously used, neither do we claim the formers R, nor the fans P,'for they also have been used, but,

/Vhat we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

l. The combination of the endless aprons E, F, cylinders C, D, and plate b, and brush cylinder Gr, arranged substantially as shown, for the purpose o-f feeding the material in a proper state to the series of cylinders 7L, and the formers R.

2. We claim the weighing apparatus formed of the levers 25, t, ring o, and weight 2, or constructed in any other way when the weighing apparatus is so arranged that the former while in motion and the fur is being thrown upon it may rest upon the weighing apparatus, and the former, eX- haust, and fur by their weight counterbalance or raise theweight z, when 'the proper quantity of fur has been thrown upon the former to form a hat body. y

3. 1We claim the guides or conductors X, X, constructed of india rubber and provided with the adjustable frames Y, Y, at their outer ends, said frames being provided with set screws g, and arranged substantially as described for the purpose set forth.

4. Ve claim the employment or use of the slide or cut-olf W and the movable bed piece or platform T, operated automatically as shown or inl an equivalent way for the purpose of regulating the blast and stopping the supply Of fur to the formers, as described.

PETER ARNESON. JORGEN PEDERSON. HANS BEES.

WYitnesses Jos. GEO. MASON, J. `W. COOMBs. 

